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HEALTH HINTS 



TRAVELERS. 



- ^ 

U 



BY 
JOHN C. SUNDBERG, M. D. 




D. G. BRINTON, 

115 SOUTH SEVENTH STREET, 

PHILADELPHIA. 

1884. 



Q\ \^o 



,ss 



Copyright by D. G. Brinton, iJ 
All rights reserved. 



PREFACE. 

The object of this book is to teach the traveler to 
keep himself well, and to help others who are less for- 
tunate. It is bad enough to fall sick at home, but 
how much worse when among strangers ! 

Having traveled myself in almost every climate, 
and in every quarter of the globe, my experience and 
my profession have induced me to set forth in plain 
and brief language a number of suggestions which it 
will be worth while for travelers to remember. I 
shall be glad to learn of others of a practical nature, 
and shall be thankful for any such which may be sent 
me, care of the publisher of this volume, 

1884. John C. Sundberg, M. D. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Preface 3 

Getting Ready — (Vaccination ; Teeth ; Medicine ; Baggage ; 

Toilet Articles ; Own Cup ; Colored Glasses) 7 

Hints About Eating and Drinking 9 

Washing and Bathing 12 

The Weather — (Airand Ventilation; Respirators) 13 

Choosing a Room 14 

Hygiene of Railway Traveling (Drafts, Nausea, Headache, 

Irritation of Throat) 15 

Hints for Traveling with Infants 18 

Tours Afoot — (Training, Preparing the Feet, the Nails, Corn 
Doctoring, Bunions, Foot Soreness, Chafing and Blistering, 
Washing the Feet, Shoes and Stockings, A Pedestrian's Cos- 
tume, How many miles a day. Muscular Soreness) .... 21 

Equestrian Tours 34 

At Sea — (Sea-sickness) . 35 

Traveling in Search of Health 38 

The Insect Plagues — (Mosquitoes, Fleas, Bedbugs, Lice, etc.) 40 

How to Escape Malaria 42 

To Avoid Taking Contagious Diseases — (The Best Disin- 
fectants) 45 

Sleeplessness — Nightmare 47 

Sunstroke and Heatstroke 50 

Poisonous Bites and Stings 52 

DiARRHCEA and CONSTIPATION 53 

Catching Cold 54 

(V) 



VI CONTENTS. 

PAGB 

Sore Throat ... o ........ 55 

Toothache 56 

Hiccough 58 

Earache. ............. .... 58 

Nose Bleed . 58 

Vertigo or Dizziness . . 58 

Suggestions about Medicines 59 



Health Hints for Travelers. 



Getting Ready. 

Much of the pleasure and some of the safety of a 
journey depends on how well the tourist prepares 
himself to take it. Whatever else he leaves undone, 
there are some points he should religiously attend to. 
One of these is 

Vaccination. Small-pox is such a loathsome dis- 
ease, so much feared, so prevalent, and withal so easily 
prevented, that there is no sort of excuse for any civil- 
ized man suffering from it. By all means before start- 
ing on any journey of length go through the simple 
process of revaccinatiott. It ought to be repeate 
every four or five years with genuine bovine or pure 
human virus, it matters not which. Do not be deluded 
by the sophistical talk of certain crazy heads into the 
notion that it is needless or injurious. My observation 
is but that of thousands of experienced physicians, to 
the effect that Jenner's discovery was the most valu- 
able made during the last century. 

Consult your dentist before you go. Even a philo- 
sopher is upset by a tooth-ache; how much more the 
sojourner in a strange land ! Moreover, the United 
States has the best dentists in the world, and if you 
think of visiting a foreign country, you will not be 

(7) 



8 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

likely to secure as good work as you can at home. 
Therefore have your teeth put in thorough repair be- 
fore you buy your ticket. 

You will want with you a few simple medicines. I 
append a list of them at the close of this book. Have 
such of them as you think you may need put up at 
some druggist's in whose preparations you have con- 
fidence. The doctor often gets the blame that belongs 
to weak and adulterated drugs. 

Much baggage is a nuisance. But as a matter of 
prudence, do not depart without a good umbrella, 
rubber overshoes, and a rubber gossamer overall, all 
to keep out the dampness, that foe to health. A 
rubber air-cushion is frequently a most agreeable ad- 
dition to one's comfort. These articles take up very 
little room. 

Carry your own toilet articles with you, and use no 
others. It is well to give a wide berth to the public 
brushes, combs and towels which one finds in Ameri- 
can hotels and clubs. (In Europe they never furnish 
even soap.) Certain very disagreeable skin diseases 
may be readily transferred by these articles for pro- 
miscuous use. 

It is also prudent to provide one's self with a drink- 
ing-cup for use in the cars or elsewhere. Very ugly 
diseases can be and have been carried from lip to lip by 
cups and glasses. Not to speak of others equally loath- 
some, I recall that Dr. Eklund, of Stockholm, in a 
recent monograph on leprosy, says that a common 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. Q 

source of contagion in Norway, unquestionably, is the 
promiscuous use of drinking-cups, spoons, etc. The 
same has been said of cholera among the troops in 
India. 

Colored glasses. These are useful in traveling over 
snow-covered ground when the sun shines bright, for 
instance, through Norway and Sweden in winter time. 
They are almost indispensable on the seashore, at sea, 
and in some parts of the country where the glare of 
the sun on the white sand is actually blinding. 

Hints About Eating and Drinking. 

Food. Follow the customs of the country. It is 
the opinion of some of the highest medical authorities 
in India, that if the Europeans would adopt the mode 
of living of the Hindus, viz., abstain from flesh and 
alcohol, they would be better able to withstand the 
evil effects of the climate. 

The author lives almost exclusively on fruit and 
milk (when the latter can be obtained) in tropical 
climates, and even in the temperate and cold countries 
during summer. During the early part of the summer 
of 1878, while in Calcutta, where at the time cholera 
was raging all around, my daily dinner was invariably 
as follows: One pineapple, two or three mangoes, 
and a few bananas or other fruit. I was warned 
strongly by physicians and others against this practice; 
I, however, kept perfectly healthy, while Europeans 
and natives died all around me from cholera and sun- 



lO HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

stroke. I think that we should always select fruit 
that is perfectly sound, and I would under no circum- 
stances eat any portion of an apple or an orange in 
which there was the smallest spot that was beginning 
to decay. 

Drinks. Water containing organic impurities may 
be rendered potable by (i) boiling, (2) filtering 
through charcoal, (3) adding a small quantity of per- 
manganate of potassium, and letting it stand and 
settle. 

Alcohol is useful after exposure to severe cold; for 
instance, after having been rescued from a wreck at 
sea and brought into a warm cabin. The great danger 
then is congestion of internal organs, which alcohol 
tends to prevent by driving the blood outwards. But 
alcohol is not of the least value while the person is so 
exposed; on the contrary, it diminishes the power to 
resist cold. It is useful taken in small quantities with 
the food while undergoing severe fatigue, though 
under such circumstances I have found it inferior to 
coffee. Men when about to visit tropical countries 
are frequently advised, even by their physician, to 
drink brandy freely, and to either abstain from water 
entirely, or at least never to take it pure. While on a 
visit to Delhi during the winter of 1879, I met there 
a well known American gentleman who told me that 
he had been warned against the water both of Europe 
and the East, and in order to be on the safe side, he 
had not, so he said, tasted water since he left Phila- 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. II 

delphia. A wealthy and refined lady in Ceylon, in- 
formed me that as far as she knew she had never 
tasted pure water, nor did she ever allow her children 
to drink water without first diluting it with brandy. 

As a result of this erroneous idea, for which physi- 
cians are to a certain extent responsible, I have found 
that a large number of the English ladies living in 
India consume daily: Beer 3 pints, claret 3 pints, 
sherry or champagne I pint, brandy from i to 4 and 
even 6 ounces. The men drink, on an average, much 
more, especially of the brandy, which diluted with an 
equal part of soda-water is with many a favorite 
beverage. 

The same I have found to be the custom among the 
Europeans in South America. Is it then any wonder 
that many of these climates exert such evil influences 
on the system in general, and the liver in particular? 
As a proof that alcohol is not needed in tropical 
climates any more than in the temperate, let me state 
the case of an American gentleman, the Rev. Dr. J. 
Phillips, total abstainer, who had lived in Arissa for 
nearly forty years, and had undergone a great amount 
of hardships and exposure in this home of malaria, 
and yet retained a vigorous body almost up to his death, 
which occured at the advanced age of 69. When- 
ever I have, in the tropics or elsewhere, met a temper- 
ate man, I have usually found him to be healthy, and 
better able to undergo hardships than he who is habi- 
tuated to the daily use of stimulants. 



12 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

" Every man," says the eminent Dr. Parkes, in his 
treatise on Hygiene, "who examines the subject in 
good faith, is the best judge of the exact diet which 
suits him." The general rule is that the amount of 
food should be in proportion to the amount of exer- 
cise taken. But the trouble is to get persons to use 
their own best judgment about satisfying their appe- 
tite. Dr. Parkes says in another passage, that even 
to-day, thirty per cent, of those who consult a physi- 
cian owe their diseases in some way to their diet! 

It is a good habit to take a reasonable amount of 
fluid before starting in the morning, and very little 
during the day. Of the many excellent reasons for 
keeping the mouth shut, one is that it lessens greatly 
the sense of thirst. A piece of onion, a grain of cay- 
enne pepper, a trifle of spice, still better a fragment of 
slippery elm bark, will allay thirst without the use of 
water. 

In India, travelers carry a "filtering stone," with 
tube attached. In default of some such simple appar- 
atus, suspicious drinking water should be boiled and 
cooled. At hotels, some of the numerous natural 
mineral waters can nearly always be obtained, and they 
are often preferable to the local water. 

Jf'ashiiig and Bathing, 

Cleanliness is praiseworthy and salutary, but there 
is not much wisdom in universal cold bathing — " tub- 
bing," as the English call it. A cold bath, by which 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 1 3 

I mean one when the temperature of the water is any- 
where below 70° Fah., requires a sohd constitution to 
resist its dangers. Drs. Martin and Mosely pronounce 
it " eminently unsafe" to the aged, the very young, to 
the debilitated, the intemperate, to those suffering from 
any organic disease, and — especially noteworthy here — 
to those who have recently undergone any great fatigue 
of mind or body. The warm bath — from 85° to 95° — 
is safe to all. 

An excellent substitute for the bath is the flesh 
brush. After one becomes accustomed to it, it is a 
delightful implement and indispensable toilet article. 
Pains and aches disappear before it "like magic," as 
the patent medicine men say. It is cleanly, handy, 
portable, stimulating and soothing, all in one. 

A rough towel or the flesh gloves are next in value, 
but a long way behind. 

Tlie Weather, Air and Ventilation. 

When the heat is excessive, there are many ways 
of cooling the rooms. Pankhas, which are immense 
fans suspended under the ceiling, will be found deli- 
cious, and in the case of hot winds, such as prevail in 
the northwest provinces of India during March, April, 
May, and June, a wet screen (tatti), suspended before 
the doors and windows, through which the wind is 
allowed to pass, will make a person coming from with- 
out imagine that he is approaching the north pole. 
Americans do not as a rule pay enough attention to 



14 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

the art of keeping cool in hot weather. Travelers 
should provide themselves with sun hats (solar topics) 
and white umbrellas. 

Wet Clothi7ig. — If wet from salt water, no harm will 
come from it, I was once wet night and day, sleeping 
and awake, for six weeks, with a temperature near and 
at times below the freezing point, but was none the 
worse for it at the end of that time. 

Cold Weather. — Although the winter temperature 
of Norway and Sweden is usually very severe, some- 
times falling below the freezing point of mercury, I 
never remember to have suffered much from cold, 
although I have spent nineteen winters in Norway. 
With the intense cold there is usually a perfect calm 
with dryness of the atmosphere (this only applies to 
the interior, not to the coast), hence the great toler- 
ance. I once as a boy walked 210 English miles in 
six days, in a temperature which during that time 
ranged from twenty to thirty degrees Fah. below zero. 
I kept my ears and nose warm by rubbing them fre- 
quently with snow. 

Choosing a JRootn. 

Always select a room on the sunny side of the 
house, even in the tropics. It has been found in India, 
that the mortality is less among the soldiers who oc- 
cupy the south side of the barracks. 

A word about respirators. They are useful in dense, 
dank, penetrating fogs, in smoky, gassy places, on very 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 1 5 

dusty roads, in raw winds, and to all whose throat and 
lungs are threatened. The simplest is a silk handker- 
chief placed over the nostrils and mouth, and it is 
astonishing how much comfort this often gives. Of 
the permanent kind, a thin slice of clean close-grained 
sponge (half an inch thick), will answer very well. In 
India they extemporize an efficient disinfecting respi- 
rator by enclosing a layer of fresh charcoal in cotton. 
Various others are manufactured, especially in London, 
where they are much more used than in this country. 

Hygiene of Railway Traveling. 

Some writers on sanitary science have framed a 
formidable bill of indictment against railways, on the 
score of the injury they do to health. The surgeons 
of the hospitals of Paris and Lyons found nearly seven 
per cent, of the engineers and firemen suffering from 
affections of the brain and nervous system, owing 
principally to their occupation. Dr. Blyth, in his 
" Dictionary of Hygiene," accuses the waiting-rooms 
at stations of being " nothing more or less than centres 
for the propogation of typhoid fever and similar dis- 
eases." The frequent exposure to drafts is also very 
injurious. As an English writer observes : " One may 
live in a pest-house for years; but to be suddenly 
cooled down to an easily -reached point, puts us in a 
few minutes beyond all help, and a draft may bring 
death like a bullet." 

Drafts, in fact, are one of the greatest dangers in rail- 



l6 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

way traveling. They may produce catarrhal affections, 
sore throat, earache, toothache, pleurisy, pneumonia — 
a long train of ills. They are increased with the 
rapidity of the train, and whenever the temperature of 
the air is below 65°, they have all the dangerous pro- 
perties of a " cold draft." It is well to remember that 
in cold weather there is much less risk from foul air 
than from open windows, and the safer rule is to keep 
the car-windows shut. As a safeguard against drafts, 
I particularly recommend persons to carry a blanket, 
or a "railway rug," to wrap around their legs and feet. 
The philosophy of this is that the first effect of a gen- 
eral chill is to drive the blood from the extremities 
(the arms and legs and feet) to the central organs, and 
hence the importance of keeping these extremities 
protected and warm. If in spite of care, a generally 
chilly feeling is experienced, the best remedy is im- 
mediately to swallow a quarter or an eighth of a grain 
of morphia, or one grain of opium, or twenty drops of 
laudanum. I know a very eminent surgeon who tells 
me that for years on his frequent journeys he has in- 
variably carried such morphine pills for this purpose. 

Nausea and sick feelings, with faintness, are produced 
in many persons by the movement of a rapid train. 
The sensation is something like sea-sickness, and is 
probably caused by the jolting of the intestines and 
gall bladder. Dr. Walter Lewis, the Medical Super- 
intendent of the London Post-office, has observed this 
so often in "bilious" persons, that he now rejects them 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 1/ 

as unfit for the traveling service of the postal depart- 
ment. The best preventative of this unpleasant effect 
is to tie a bandage tightly around the abdomen, and 
to carry a small vial of chloroform, of which a few 
whiffs should be sniffed up when the sensations come 
on. 

The headache produced in some persons by railway 
traveling, is sometimes brought about by the noise 
and vibration of the cars acting on the ears. I have 
heard of one case where it was entirely prevented by 
filling the ears with cotton, before entering the cars. 
In others, we must look to the eyes for its cause. 
These organs are more or less tried by the rapid recur- 
rence of momentary impressions on the retina. Any 
one can test this for himself by trying to count the 
fence-posts when the train is in rapid motion. Persons 
whose eyes are weak experience the same disagreeable 
strain from looking out in the ordinary manner. 

Dryness of the throat, passing sometimes into trou- 
blesome irritation of the vocal organs, is quite common 
with susceptible people who try to talk in the cars. 
The cause of it is two-fold; first, because in order to 
drown the noise of the train they have to pitch the 
voice in an unusual key, which strains the vocal cords ; 
and secondly, because the air in long railway journeys 
has a drying effect both on the skin and mucous mem- 
brane, and renders them unusually sensitive. The pre- 
vention is simple : do not converse in the cars, and 
keep your mouth shut. 



1 8 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

In spite of the ingenuity which has been expended 
upon the subject, the dust remains one of the greatest 
annoyances in railway traveling. It is extremely irri- 
tating both to the eyes and the breathing passages. 
Many experienced travelers protect the eyes by " gog- 
gles;" ladies can use veils, which are, however, un- 
pleasant in hot weather. A respirator will protect the 
breathing passages, if it seems advisable to have re- 
course to it. 

Hints for Traveling with Infants, 

Every traveler knows the horror of the squalling 
baby in the crowded car. The poor little things suffer 
much, but most of their misery and that of their 
traveling companions could be avoided by timely pre- 
cautions. 

One of the greatest troubles is about their food and 
drink. I recommend decidedly the use of condejised 
milk on journeys with small children. The tin being 
opened before starting, and a little of the milk taken 
out to prevent any running over, it is placed carefully 
in an ordinary small traveling provision-basket, not in 
a hand-bag. It is better to have a teaspoon as well, so 
that the quantity may be easily measured. Children, 
even if they are not accustomed to this kind of milk, 
take it readily, and digest it well. Even though the 
tin be left open, the milk remains perfectly good during 
the longest journey. 

The next difficulty is in providing hot water to mix 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. ig 

with the milk, or in heating the mixture to a proper 
temperature without the trouble and risk of boiling it 
over a spirit-lamp every time the child needs the bottle. 
This may readily be avoided by the following expedi- 
ents. 

An ordinary stone bottle, such as is commonly em- 
ployed in winter to place at the foot of the bed to keep 
the feet warm, holding about half a gallon of water, is 
first wrapped round with several thicknesses of sheet 
cotton-wadding, the ends being brought round so as to 
entirely encircle the bottle. Outside this, two or three 
yards of stout house-flannel are wound, and fastened 
securely by a needle and thread, the ends being 
gathered in, as in the case of the wadding. The 
flannel and wadding are, of course, cut so as to allow 
the neck of the bottle to protrude. To improve the 
appearance of the whole, a piece of scarlet flannel is 
then neatly sewn on, and an ordinary rug-strap, with a 
handle, adjusted, so as to allow portability. A few 
hours before starting, the bottle must be filled with 
nearly boiling water, and the cork, which must be per- 
fectly clean, or the screw-stopper, adjusted. The 
object of doing this is to heat thoroughly the bottle 
and its coverings. Shortly before starting, the bottle 
is first emptied, and then again filled with fresh boiling 
water. This can be readily carried by the aid of the 
strap without any inconvenience whatever. If properly 
prepared, the water, which at the time of starting is at 
a temperature of about 200° Fahr., will remain con- 



20 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

siderably over ioo°, even though the quantity is con- 
stantly being diminished, for a period of twelve to six- 
teen hours. 

Children who have only recently given up the use 
of the bottle are still dependent to a great extent upon 
liquid food, though it is not always necessary in hot 
weather that the food should be warm. For this rea- 
son, a bottle of milk and another of plain- water should 
form part of the traveling-basket Children suffer 
much from thirst, as a rule, when travelling; and, if 
milk be given to them undiluted, it tends to increase, 
and not to satisfy, this craving for liquid. Plain water, 
in small quantities, at appropriate intervals, allays 
thirst, and prevents children from being so restless and 
irritable. 

In place of buns, cakes, and sweet crackers, it is far 
better to take only plain water-crackers, thin slices of 
bread and butter, carefully packed in a sandwich-tin, or 
even simple crusts of bread, which do not provoke 
thirst as in the case of sweet things. Egg-sandwiches, 
made with eggs not boiled too hard, prove an useful 
addition on long journeys, and are much relished by 
young children as well as by adults. Ripe fruit, to a 
moderate amount, is also very grateful, where children 
are old enough to be indulged with it. 

Children who are unused to traveling often have a 
great dread of the whistling of the engine as it enters 
a tunnel, or rushes swiftly past some station with gas- 
lamps flaring along its whole length. To obviate 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 21 

these, a little cotton-wool, lightly packed at the orifice 
of the ear, gently pressed into the external meatus 
only sufficiently far to prevent the wool from actually 
falling out, and the precaution of drawing the blind or 
the curtains across the car windows, will prove of great 
service. 

It is a mistake to wrap up children too much when 
traveling in summer; the unusual clothing only irri- 
tates them, and makes them restless and peevish, pre- 
venting their sleeping, and causing unnecessary dis- 
comfort. 

In cases were children are exceedingly nervous and 
excitable, readily frightened, and unable to sleep when 
traveling, a dose of five or ten grains of the bromide 
of potassium, depending upon the age of the child 
is often of service in restraining undue excitement and 
ensuring sleep. 

Tours Afoot. 

The earliest, and still in many respects often the 
most pleasant mode of travel, is to go afoot. It is the 
only way in which the full attraction of beautiful 
scenery can be appreciated. One escapes the annoy- 
ance of hurrying by charming views, and it is reserved 
for the pedestrian alone to gain a real acquaintance 
with the people of the land through which he travels. 
Some adopt foot traveling from necessity, quite as 
many from pleasure. Not many years ago an English 
physician was thoughtful enough to make a careful 



22 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

collection of the medical and hygienic hints which are 
suitable to the pedestrian, and I shall repeat, in the 
main, the judicious advice of Dr. Watson, adding to it 
various suggestions from the experience of myself and 
others. 

TRAINING BEFOREHAND. 

For some days before setting out on a foot journey, 
the tourist should practice regular training, beginning 
with moderate walks, and increasing them daily. 
This serves also to break in the shoes, and to harden 
the feet. The body also must be brought into good 
condition. A warm bath with thorough towelling 
repeated several times, opens the pores of the skin and 
relieves the internal organs. A gentle dose of laxa- 
tive medicine, as of one of the aperient mineral waters 
now to be found in every drug-store, is also a- useful 
preliminary. If the diet has been rich and full, it 
should be moderated. 

PREPARING THE FEET. 

Comfort, pleasure, success, everything about a foot 
tour, depends on the condition of the feet. A corn, a 
chafed heel, a hang nail will destroy all the charms of 
scenery and joy of companionship. The most scrupu- 
lous precautions to avoid such petty evils are never 
excessive or beneath respect. 

THE NAILS. 

If the toe-nails are suffered to grow too long, they 
have a tendency to curve downward and inward, some- 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 23 

times growing into the flesh, or causing discomfort by 
the pressure of the upper leather of the shoe. 

They must not, however, be cut too short, as this in 
turn prevents them from being what they by nature 
are, a defence to the extremely sensitive extremities of 
the toes. 

The proper length to keep them is so that the edge 
of the nail is a line or two behind the extreme end of 
the toe. It is quite important to cut them square, not 
rounded or en amande, as the French say, as the latter 
plan favors their growing into the flesh and cutting the 
skin in walking. 

This accident of ingrown toe-nail is one of the most 
obstinate and painful of all the affections of the foot. 
It is usually the big toe which is the sufferer. The 
corner of the nail is forced into the flesh, bleeding and 
irritation follow, and sometimes actual and severe lame- 
ness are produced in consequence. 

This accident may be prevented by close attention to 
the condition of the nails, and by cutting them square. 
If any irritation or chafing by the edge of the nail 
against the flesh is perceived, a narrow strip of isinglass 
plaster must be inserted beneath the nail and carried 
firmly around the toe over the irritated edge of flesh, 
thus interposing this protective barrier between the 
nail and the flesh. The corner of the nail must not be 
cut off That were bad treatment. But the convex 
portion or back of the nail may be scraped thin with a 
piece of glass or knife edge from the root to the free 



24 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

edge. This weakens and flattens the arch of the nail, 
so that the borders do not press so firmly on the flesh 
at the sides. Some cotton may also be pressed under 
the edges of the nail, to lift them up and away from the 
flesh. 

CORN DOCTORING. 

In every city in the United States corn extractors, 
or as they prefer to be called, chiropodists or pedi- 
cures, are to be found. It is fair to say that as a rule 
they have a good deal of practical skill, and their 
services will repay, in increased comfort, the moderate 
charges they usually make. To a sufferer from corns 
a few dollars now and then are well laid out in having 
these artists remove the callosities and redress the 
irregularities of his feet. Before starting on a pedes- 
trian excursion, it would be well to have one's ser- 
vices. 

As, however, not all have the chance and others will 
not recollect or care to take this advice, I add direc- 
tions for treating corns independently of pedicures. 

First, to relieve them. To do this, soak them a few 
minutes in warm water, apply a drop of sweet-oil, and 
then cut them down carefully, being very careful not 
to draw blood, as this sometimes results in producing 
ugly sores. Soap the cut surface a little, and touch it 
lightly with a stick of fused nitrate of silver (lunar 
caustic). After a few minutes wipe off the soap, and 
cover with a piece of sticking plaster or lead plaster 
spread on linen. , Be careful not to apply the caustic 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 2$ 

beyond the hard, horny spot, or a sore may be pro- 
duced. 

This method does very well to produce temporary 
relief, but not a cure, as the so-called " root" or stem 
of the corn remains, and for a cure this must be ex- 
tracted. This can be done by any tolerably skillful 
and patient person. A penknife with a rather dull 
blade, or a sharp-pointed bodkin, is required. Soften- 
ing the core with a drop of oil, the operator digs or 
scratches cautiously round and round the root, loosen- 
ing it by degrees from its bed, going slowly deeper 
and deeper, until the whole root is thus exposed. It 
may then be removed by a small pair of forceps. If 
properly done, this operation is entirely pain/ess and 
entirely bloodless. 

After the root is removed, pressure on the spot 
should not cause the least pain. The part should be 
covered with a plaster, and the toe bound up for a few 
days. 

More serious annoyance of similar character is 
caused by 

BUNIONS. 

Under this name are popularly included two very 
different complaints. Thus I find several works 
addressed to pedestrians describing a bunion as "a 
many-stemmed corn situated over or on the outer side 
of the large joint of the great toe." It is true that 
large multiple corns are frequently produced at these 
spots by ill-fitting shoes, and on account of their size 

2 



26 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

and exposed situation are peculiarly apt to become 
inflamed and painful. The bending of the joint at 
every step aggravates the soreness and hinders recov- 
ery. 

This sort of bunion is, however, nothing more than 
an exaggeration of an ordinary corn, and the directions 
• I have above given will apply to the treatment of such 
a callosity quite well. 

Very different and much more serious is the ail- 
ment which surgeons call a bunion. This is nothing 
else than a chronic inflammation and consequent en- 
largement of the principal joint of the great toe. It is 
usually caused by wearing a shoe which is too short, 
and thus presses the toe back against the correspond- 
ing bone of the foot, not giving the joint sufficient 
play, and exciting inflammation of one or both its 
articular surfaces. 

Here no domestic remedy will avail, nor need an im- 
mediate recovery be expected at the most skillful hands. 
A wide shoe, and a proper splint and bandage, will 
have to be worn for a long time to restore the joint to 
a state of health. But as a pedestrian journey cannot 
be contemplated by such a sufferer, I need not enter 
further into this matter. 

FOOT SORENESS, CHAFING AND BLISTERING. 

These are the commonest annoyances when journey- 
ing afoot. They may be generally avoided by secur- 
ing a well-fitting shoe, and having it gradually broken 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 2/ 

in, and well oiled. The stockings should be free from 
creases and seams, and preferably of soft wool. After 
some hours' walking, when the feet are beginning to 
feel hot, chafed and sore, the stockings should be 
changed from one foot to the other, or turned inside 
out, so that the point of pressure will be relieved. 

But the most efficient preservative is to have the 
feet well greased before starting out. Some pedestrians 
prefer for this purpose neats-foot oil ; others use tallow 
or washed lard; others say nothing equals the yolk of 
an egg; while others again believe in soaping the in- 
side of the stocking with common yellow hard soap, 
making a good lather, and rubbing it in. Probably it 
makes little difference which of these plans is adopted, 
the end gained being the same in all ; so I will leave if 
to the fancy and convenience of the reader to select for 
himself 

When a blister is once formed, do not open it. That 
is the worst measure to take. It is painful at the time, 
and the foot grows sore afterwards. Get a needleful 
of silk or worsted ; pass it through the blister ; tie the 
two ends together and leave the thread in ; the next 
morning cut off both ends with the scissors, leaving 
the thread in the now drained and flattened blister un- 
disturbed. 

Another plan, much used by Swiss travelers, is to 
rub the blistered part gently for some time on going to 
bed with spirits mixed with tallow dropped from a 
candle into the palm of the hand. The next morning 



28 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

no blister remains. This has the endorsement of many 
distinguished pedestrians. 

When the shin has been broken and a chafed, sore, 
raw surface has been formed, very considerable comfort 
may be regained by covering it smoothly with one or 
two layers of court plaster. No pedestrian should 
start out without a piece of this simple and valuable 
substance with him. He will probably bless its dis- 
coverer more warmly than Sancho Panza did the 
inventive genius who first discovered sleep. 

At night, chafed and inflamed surfaces should be 
well greased, or else covered with a clay poultice — a 
simple remedy, very generally at hand, and very cool- 
ing, grateful and healing to most inflamed parts. 

WASHING AND BATHING THE FEET. 

There is a difference of opinion among professed 
pedestrians as to the propriety of using much water to 
the feet when on a long tramp. The medical regula- 
tions of the British army in India are emphatic that the 
feet should not be washed with cold water when long 
marches are contemplated. Some authorities disap- 
prove of much washing with any kind of water. The 
natural oily secretion of the skin is removed by the 
fluid, and consequently cracks, chafes and blisters are 
more liable to occur. Wiping with a damp towel or 
sponge, say these writers, is enough for cleanliness. 

The counsel that I should give would be to bathe 
the feet every evening in tepid water, but not to let 
them soak long; and after wiping them, to rub 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 29 

in some penetrating animal oil, as neat's-foot. This 
meets the demands of both parties, the advocates of 
cleanliness and those of oiliness. 

The excessive perspiration of the feet with which 
some persons are annoyed is increased by frequent 
washing; yet cleanliness is essential to remove the 
disagreeable odor which always attends this immode- 
rate secretion. The socks should be of woolen, and 
finely powdered fresh vegetable charcoal should be 
strewn in the bottom of the shoe to absorb the fetid 
emanation. 

At the end of a day's walk, it is a good rule to take 
off shoes and stockings, rub the feet with a damp cloth, 
dry them well, and put on clean, dry stockings and 
light slippers. Especially is this necessary when the 
feet are damp, either from rain, stepping in water, or 
perspiration. Under no circumstances should a person 
sit with wet feet, or undertake to dry them by sitting 
in front of a fire. 

SHOES AND STOCKINGS. 

A great variety of shoes and boots claim the patron- 
age of. the pedestrian. Few of them stand the test of 
experience. The so-called " Congress shoes," with 
elastic sides, compress the cords and vessels of the 
ankle, heat the foot, and impede the circulation. The 
much extolled " Waukenphast" last, with an almost 
straight interior border, and narrowed over the toes, 
is not suitable for long tramps. 

A good shoe will fit closely nowhere but on the 



30 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

instep, where it should exert a firm and equable press- 
ure. It will allow plenty of room for the toes to ex- 
pand and extend in every direction, but not enough 
for them to rub and slip about or override each other. 
The soles should extend beyond the lines of the up- 
pers, and the heels be broad and low. The fastenings 
should be by laces or strings, which alone allow the 
pressure to be accurately adjusted to the thickness of 
the stockings and the varying size of the ankle — for 
the circumference of the ankle varies considerably after 
a period of rest and a number of hours walking, especi- 
ally in lymphatic persons. 

In having a measure taken for a walking shoe, the 
circumference of the foot when the weight of the body 
is thrown upon it must be taken into account In 
some persons this is almost the same as when at rest; 
but in others the increase is twenty to thirty per cent., 
and for such, a shoe fitted to the foot at rest will surely 
give annoyance. 

In many parts of Europe foot-tourists wear leggins 
buttoning from the knee to the ankle, made of soft 
leather or corduroy. They protect against mud and 
wet, and relieve the nuisance of the pantaloons flapping 
against the shins. More devoted pedestrians adopt 
regular Knickerbockers or knee-breeches, with heavy 
woolen hose. During our war the daily experience 
of long marches taught our infantry the convenience 
of such a costume, and they extemporized it by tuck- 
ing the ends of their pantaloons into their stockings. 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. $1 

Nearly all authorities advocate socks or stockings of 
wool — thick, soft, lamb's-wool, without seams or ribs. 
To some skins, esf>ecially in warm weather, the feel 
of woolen is irritating and disagreeable. Such may 
draw on a thin cotton sock under the woolen; or well 
made smooth and soft cotton hose may answer as 
well. Any kind that appears to increase the liability 
to blistering should be discarded. 

Whatever hose are worn, the garter should be dis- 
pensed with. Not only does the constriction of the 
extremity it causes produce swelling and heating of 
the feet, varicose veins, and other local difficulties, but 
the disturbance thus introduced into the general circu- 
lation has been proven at times to be the exciting 
agency of headaches and general malaise. The male 
sex can employ half-hose; while the ladies can adopt 
the plan now advocated by the " dress reform" teach- 
ers, of suspending the stockings from a waist-belt. 

A pedestrian's costume. 
A due regard to comfort and health will lead the 
pedestrian to dress in woolen garments, light or heavy, 
according to the season of the year. The outfit that 
Dr. Watson recommends in his useful little book en- 
titled " Hints to Pedestrians," is a shooting jacket of 
Scotch plaid or tweed, a double-breasted waistcoat, 
loose pantaloons, a light cap and a flannel shirt. Proba- 
bly a soft felt hat is superior to a cap. In the heats 
of summer a ventilating hat, or Indian helmet, is alto- 
gether advisable. 



32 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

A practiced pedestrian will not wear a rubber or 
other water-proof coat. Even the lightest are too hot 
and uncomfortable. A square piece of rubber cloth to 
throw over the knapsack, or with a slit in the centre 
to be worn as a poncho, is far more useful than a coat. 
With this, an umbrella may be dispensed with; but 
the umbrella in turn may be a grateful adjunct for its 
shade in walking over a sunny road in hot weather. 

The baggage should be light, not exceeding 15 or 
18 pounds. Some prefer to carry it in pouch, fish- 
ing basket, or game-bag at the side ; but a well-fitting 
knapsack distributes the weight more agreeably. To 
prevent the unpleasant heating of the back from a 
knapsack, they may now be had resting on a frame of 
basket-work which allows the free circulation of the 
air between the weight and the body. 

A well-made umbrella will serve all the purposes of 
a cane. The best shaft is one of reed, which is both 
light and strong. The handle should be at right 
angles to the shaft, or slightly curved. The steel ribs 
and iron ferule of an umbrella have been accused of 
attracting lightning, and thus adding to the dangers of 
a thunder-storm. I mention this, though it is difficult 
to believe that there is any actual peril in using them. 

HOW MANY MILES A DAY. 

Mr. Ruskin gives it as his opinion that properly to 
enjoy and appreciate scenery, the tourist afoot should 
not walk more than a dozen miles a day. The hygie- 
nist will agree that for the first day or two this should 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 33 

not be much exceeded. The stress and strain of the 
journey are in the first three days. These victoriously 
past, the exercise becomes much easier. Anything 
like a "spurt" is unwise. 

It is justly remarked by a writer on this subject that 
to push the daily journey to the point of great fatigue, 
so as to render the muscles sore and trembling, and 
stiff and painful after a night's rest, is to dispel both 
pleasure and benefit. We might say that on an aver- 
age a dozen or fifteen miles will be enough for the first 
day's walk. If they rest well the following night and 
rise refreshed the next morning, they can add five 
miles the second day, and a day or two later increase 
this to five-and-twenty miles. The warning is useful, 
however, that whenever the pedestrian finds his appetite 
diminished, his sleep restless, or a sense of exhaustion 
the next morning, he should promptly lessen his daily 
stint. 

With regard to meals and meal-times the old rule is 
a good one, " light food before the journey and solid 
food after it." I should recommend however that 
some food always be taken before setting out in the 
morning. It is a fact well kpown to all physicians 
that a person is much more liable to contagious and 
infectious diseases when the stomach is empty than 
when it is full. Malarial poison is more active in the 
early morning than later in the day; therefore the 
tourist who begins his walk before breakfast runs a 
double risk of being affected by any dangerous exhala- 
tion prevalent. 
2* 



34 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

No meals should be taken immediately after arriving 
at a place of rest, nor should the walk be resumed 
until at least half an hour after the meal' is finished. 

TO REMOVE THE MUSCULAR SORENESS 

which follows over-exertion in walking, climbing, etc., 
the most effective measure is to take a hot bath and 
then to jump into a well-warmed bed. Sponging well' 
with hot water and rubbing the sorest parts with tinc- 
ture of arnica are also useful, and take the place of the 
hot bath. . 

Equestrian Tours. 

That noble animal, the horse, offers a means of con- 
veyance to the tourist now fallen into much disuse in 
fully civilized countries, but still indispensable over 
vast areas of the earth's surface. In South America 
and Asia, the horse, the mule, or the camel, is still 
aimost the only, certainly the customary carrier. It 
would be well for many invalids to turn their attention 
to horseback exercise as a means of restoration to 
health. I find in my note-book the opinion of some 
physician in these words : " Peruvian bark is no surer 
cure for ague than riding is for consumption." That 
is saying too much. But the truth remains that in the 
early stages of this justly-dreaded disease, riding, com- 
bined \vith the observance of sound hygienic precepts,, 
offers a very good chance, indeed, to escape the other- 
wise almost inevitable results. 

But equestrian exercise may do also a great deal of 



HEALTH HINTS FOT TRAVELERS. 35 

harm, if unwisely pursued, or in certain constitutions. 
Thus I have heard of a case where a person riding 
rapidly against a strong wind brought on a severe attack 
of hemorrhage from the lungs. Asthmatic persons 
are often much distressed by the motion. Those who 
suffer from piles will aggravate their disease by horse- 
back riding. Those who have any tendency to rupture 
will incur considerable danger by the jolting. Where 
there is an aneurism, a fatal injury may be produced 
by the same cause. And finally, in all acute diseases, 
the motion is altogether too violent for safety. 

Those who would take an equestrian tour should 
practice gradually for at least a month before they 
start, or else pleasure and benefit will be seriously 
jeopardized. On the road, they should avoid the sad- 
dle immediately after meals, as the pressure of the 
abdominal muscles sometimes causes regurgitation and 
vomiting. A light rubber overcoat is indispensable to 
protect one from the weather. The saddle should be 
selected with the utmost care, with a view to ease in 
riding, and also to the avoidance of galling the ani- 
mal's back. 

At Sea, 

The hints which will be serviceable to the traveler 
by sea, will differ somewhat depending on whether he 
goes by sail or by steam; but in some respects he will 
have the same difficulties to encounter and the same 
maladies to guard against. The most certain and per- 
haps the most disagreeable of these will be 



36 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

SEA-SICKNESS. 

This is a terror to many, and a most serious discom- 
fort to nearly all who go down to the sea in ships. I 
may as well say at the outset that there is no sure cure 
for it, not even any very certain alleviative. Yet there 
are some practical suggestions that will prove of 
decided service to those who are liable to this com- 
plaint. Some of these suggestions have recently been 
thrown into a condensed form in a book on ocean 
traveling by Dr. W. S. Wilson, a London physician of 
wide nautical experience. 

He urges the invalid first of all not to make the 
mistake of supposing that sea-sickness is an unmitiga- 
ted evil. Dr. Wilson maintains that it is within 
moderate limits decidedly beneficial, and an admirable 
if not indispensable preparation for receiving the full 
benefits of a sea voyage. He adds that it is very 
seldom prejudicial to health, and that even those who 
suffer from it most severely enjoy more than their 
usual health shortly after reaching land. 

It can undoubtedly be diminished in severity by a 
preparation of the general system for a few days before 
embarking. This preparation should consist in con- 
siderable moderation in diet, and the use of some aperi- 
ent medicine such as the laxative mineral waters. 

When the nausea commences, a bandage such as a 
handkerchief firmly fastened around the waist will 
sometimes afford considerable personal relief Very 
many medicines have been suggested from time to 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 3/ 

time, such as chloroform, chloral, bromide of potassium, 
and the like. One of the latest is nitro-glycerine. 
which is prepared in tablets pleasant to the palate, and 
is reported to give decided relief in about half the 
cases. Experienced ship surgeons, however, such as 
Dr. Wilson, are of opinion that these agents, although 
they do relieve for a time, cause more harm than good 
in the long run. It is the observation of these gentle- 
men that it is best not to interfere with the complaint 
by administering drugs. 

The wisest plan to pursue is as follows : During the 
first violence of the attack retire to your berth, and 
keep as quiet as possible. Endeavor to control the 
retching by a strong effort of the will. Sleep as much 
as possible. As the debility from lack of food is one 
of the most unpleasant features of the disease, nourish- 
ment must be taken in small quantities at frequent 
intervals. No matter if it does excite loathing at first, 
and is rejected by the stomach, the effort to take it 
must be continued. Of the forms of nourishment most 
suitable, I may specify beef-tea perfectly free from fat, 
or a solution of Liebig's extract. These will rest 
better on the stomach if either ice cold or very hot. 
They may be well seasoned with cayenne pepper, 
which condiment appears at all times to exert a very 
beneficial effect upon the weakened mucous membrane 
of the stomach. Indeed, strong cayenne lozenges are 
about the most useful remedy known for allaying the 
uncomfortable nausea which sea-sickness leaves behind 
it. 



38 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

With reference to stimulants, naval surgeons speak 
well of brandy in very small quantities well diluted 
with soda water, and also a dry champagne well iced. 
Less objectionable in some respects, and perhaps' 
equally efficacious, is the ginger ale now to be had on 
most ships. 

An important rule is to go on deck as soon as the 
sickness has moderately subsided, and to remain in 
the open air as much as possible. Those who have 
sufficient determination to do this, always make a much 
more rapid recovery than those who remain below. 

Sea-sickness generally leaves behind it a good deal 
of constipation, and a few doses of some mild aperient 
medicine will usually be necessary in order to com- 
plete the cure. 

Traveling in Search of Health. 

All that has been said about the care which the 
ordinary traveler should exercise to preserve his 
health, applies with redoubled force to those whose 
prime object in a tour is to recruit an exhausted con- 
stitution, or to escape a threatening disease. There 
are works written for their especial instruction, which 
go at length into the benefit of this and that climate, 
this and that health resort, so that I shall not attempt 
here to say much on the subject. 

But there are several points which I should advise 
them very carefully to consider about any locality they 
propose to visit. These are : 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 39 

1. Its climate. 

2. The facilities for reaching it and iox getting away 
again. 

3. What accommodations it offers. 

4. What sort of food and cooking one may expect. 
All these ought to be decidedly favorable, if the in- 
valid expects to gain the purpose of his journey. 

Both on the journey and at its goal, a delicate per- 
son should resolutely refuse to sleep in a room on the 
ground floor, or one that is damp or ill-smelling. 
They have a pestilent custom in Europe of fumigating 
a room by burning odoriferous pastilles, done really 
for the purpose of concealing the noisome odors in it. 
In choosing a residence, select an open sunny situation 
with good drainage. In Italy or Florida, a winter 
room with windows to the south and plenty of air and 
sunlight is altogether preferable. 

My observation of invalids at health-resorts per- 
suades me that many suffer horribly from en?iiii. To 
meet this, a congenial companion is most effectual. 
Also, some regular employment, suitable to the case, 
should be adopted. When out-of-door exercise is 
possible, collecting in some branch of natural history 
is an admirable resource. If not, some indoor occu- 
pation must be suggested. I know of a very distin- 
guished Chicago merchant who learned to crochet 
beautifully during a long winter spent at a certain 
New York spring. He was greatly benefited of the 
dyspepsia and insomnia that troubled him, and no 



40 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

doubt this novel occupation had its share in his resto- 
ration to health. 

The Insect Plagues. 

I. Mosquitoes. — The worst place, perhaps, in the 
world is Archangel, in Russia, during the summer 
months; they are so thick that a mosquito- bar is of 
no value, as it would be filled before it would be possi- 
ble to get under, I have tried to keep them off by- 
beating my face constantly with a towel, but to no 
purpose; the only rest I could get was in a hammock 
rigged under the main- top-gallant yard of a ship ; they 
did not follow me so high. The Russians have a 
means of keeping them out of their houses, but I 
could never learn the secret. The mosquitoes in the 
swamps of Louisiana are civil compared to those on 
the banks of the Dwina, perhaps because they are 
fewer in number. 

Against mosquitoes in ordinary numbers, and 
against many other plagues of the insect world, a box 
oi fresh Persian Insect Powder is a blessed boon. It 
must be fresh and genuine, and I say this because a 
large share of that in the market is adulterated or old, 
and thus worthless. The fresh powder thrown into 
the air of a room will keep mosquitoes at a distance, 
and sprinkled rather liberally in and around the bed- 
ding will prove highly distasteful to fleas and bedbugs. 

For these pests I find what seems a most efficient 
suggestion in a late work by an English traveler. He 
introduces it thus: 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 4I 

" In Jerusalem, during the height of summer, I have 
seen my bed pretty well alive with fleas, and have 
swept them out with my hands before going to bed. 
In the excavations or vaults in Mount Moriah, known 
by the name of ' Solomon's Stables,' I have seen my 
clothes pretty well covered with them ; and in Athens 
I have witnessed, at the early dawn, the bugs leaving 
my bed and crawling up the bedposts by the score, 
' lie dicam' by the hundred, and neither place was I 
bitten once. I adopted the following antidote, formed 
on what I heard of as being done in Hungary, a land 
much vexed in the summer-time by fleas, and so on. 
I oiled myself all over from head to foot with the best 
sweet or olive oil, and those parts of my back that I 
could not effectually get at myself, I got oiled for me 
by the help of a friend or of a servant. Rub the oil 
well in with the palm of your hand over the whole 
body — head, face, and all — in a warm room, before a 
fire if possible, in case it be winter-time; and you may 
— such is my experience, and without this precaution 
I am a martyr to fleas — defy either flea, bug, or mos- 
quito. It is quite a mistake to suppose that oiling 
one's self with sweet oil is a nasty, dirty operation. The 
oil sinks into the skin at once, and does not stain 
either cotton or linen." 

He claims the same will render one generally insect- 
proof, and it might prove a protection against the 
black flies, midges, and other pests that mar the pleas- 
ure of touring in the Adirondacks, White Mountains, 



42 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

Maine woods, etc., in the summer months. Some 
hunting friends of mine who frequent those parts tell 
me that they bathe all the exposed parts of the person 
with kerosene oil three or four times a da)/, and find it 
a complete safeguard. But the odor of this is offens- 
ive to many. 

Travelers have proverbially strange bed-fellows, and 
few have knocked about the world for years with- 
out having met the plague of lice. These disgusting 
creatures are of several distinct varieties. In Naples 
one can see the lazzaroni picking one variety from each 
other's hair and killing them; while in India those who 
perform that friendly act place the insect carefully on 
the ground, and would consider it a sin to injure it. 
Rubbing the head with kerosene oil, and afterwards 
washing it well, is the simplest treatment for these. 

Those which inhabit the clothing — the familiar 
" grayback" of our civil war — have a great antipathy 
to musk, and if this is worn on the person, there is 
little risk of receiving any of their visits. 

Sow to Escape Malaria. 

The newspapers, and doctors too, have had of 
late years a great deal to say about malaria. This 
term is often used incorrectly. Properly speaking, 
a malarial disease means one which is charac- 
terized by temporary suspensions, and then recur- 
rences at regular intervals. Ague, or chills and fever, 
remittent fever — that which in the South they call 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 43 

" river fever," or " country fever" — are all malarial dis- 
eases. They prevail very extensively in this country 
in the late summer and autumn, and every traveler 
should be on his guard against them. If he is careful, 
he can almost certainly escape them. 

First, he must live temperately. There is a foolish 
notion prevalent that whisky and tobacco will counter- 
act malaria. Listen to what Dr. Martin says about 
this, who is one of the standard English writers on the 
hygiene of the tropics : " We hear much among cer- 
tain classes of the supposed preventive influence of 
spirits and cigars against night exposure, malaria and 
contagion; but no medical observer, in any of our 
numerous colonies, has ever seen reason to believe in 
any such delusive doctrine, nor is there in reality the 
slightest foundation for it." 

Next, the clothing must not be too light. Avoid 
linen, no matter how hot the weather. In India, a 
long experience has proved the superiority of cotton 
clothing in preventing the sudden chilling of the sur- 
face of the body by drafts and changing temperature. 
Light silk or merino underwear is still better. During 
some Indian expeditions, the surgeons noted the num- 
ber of men who wore flannel next the skin and who did 
not. The latter had invariably the highest sick and 
death rates. Sailors learn this by experience. They 
wear heavy flannel shirts even in tropical ports. A 
large, loose outer garment is also exceedingly protec- 
tive. The Spaniard wears his long cloak in winter to 



44 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

keep himself warm ; in summer, to keep himself cool. 
If nothing more, at least adopt the oriental " khum- 
merbund," which is imitated in India by Europeans in 
the form of a silken, flannel or cotton waistband worn 
next the skin. 

A further warning is to keep dry. It is a false notion 
that dampness is injurious only when it is cold. An 
eminent physician, Dr. John Ordronaux, observes that 
the further south we go the more protection do we 
need against moisture, whether as dew, rain, or wet 
feet. 

The night air must be shunned. Physicians have 
found that the malarial poison is most active for about 
two hours after sunset and two hours before sunrise. 
Not only is it more prudent to remain housed during 
these hours, but the windows and doors should be 
closed. In India the natives wrap their heads in their 
clothes when sleeping in the night air. An open fire 
is desirable, even when its warmth is not needed. The 
sleeping quarters should be selected on as high ground 
as possible, and on an upper story, as the malarial 
poison is most intense in the lower strata of the air. 

Great fatigue and anxiety lower the tone of the 
system, and predispose to malaria. It is not always 
possible for the traveler to escape them ; but let him 
remember their dangers. 

Now I come to the real preventive of malarial fever. 
It is the daily use of qtdnine, or some other preparation 
of Peruvian bark. From three to five grains of qui- 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 45 

nine taken every morning is almost a certain preven- 
tive, provided that reasonable prudence in other direc- 
tions be observed. Pills containing this amount can 
be had of any manufacturing druggist, and should form 
part of the traveler's outfit. 

To Avoid Taking Contagious Diseases. 

Every one who journeys much will find himself 
occasionally exposed to infectious and contagious dis- 
eases. By some simple precautions, he can generally 
escape the influence of their poison. It is well known 
that many of them chiefly attack persons whose vital 
powers are already below par, through fatigue, ex- 
haustion, or intemperance. These he should guard 
against. Cleanliness is a strong defence. Frequent 
bathing and changing of clothing should be observed. 

Avoid kissing, eating or drinking with a sick per- 
son. Do not enter the room on an empty stomach, if 
possible. It is well ascertained that at such a time 
persons are most apt to absorb infection. If neces- 
sarily exposed to a contagious disease for some time, 
take a brisk walk or ride in the open air, change 
your clothes and bathe on returning home. Sir Henry 
Holland, M. D., himself a remarkable traveler, relates 
that once, on the Black Sea, circumstances forced him 
to visit some peasants dying in their foul homes of 
the terrible pestilential plague fever of that locality. 
Immediately on leaving them he mounted his horse 
and galloped briskly for an hour in the pure air, and 



4-6 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

to this he attributed his escape from the infection. A 
dose of quinine (five or six grains) is also a useful 
safeguard after these exposures. 

When, as in camp or at stations, one is obliged to 
live in an infectious atmosphere, the free use of dis- 
infectants becomes imperative. 

THE BEST DISINFECTANTS. 

Sunlight, fresh air, soap and water, thorough clean- 
liness — for general use. 

For special purposes the following are the most 
efficient, the simplest, and the cheapest. 

1. Copperas Disinfectant. — Sulphate of iron (cop- 
peras), one and one-half pounds; water, one gallon. 

A convenient way to prepare this is to suspend a 
basket containing about sixty pounds of copperas in a 
barrel of water. The solution should be frequently 
and liberally used in cellars, privies, water-closets, gut- 
ters, sewers, cess-pools, yards, stables, etc. 

2. Sulphur Disinfectatit. — Roll sulphur (brimstone), 
two pounds. 

To a room ten feet square, and in the same propor- 
tion for larger rooms. Burn on an open vessel and 
shut up the room for twenty-four hours, 

3. Zinc Disinfectant. — Sulphate of zinc (white vit- 
riol), one and one-half pounds ; common salt, three- 
quarters of a pound ; water, six gallons. 

For disinfecting discharges, cess-pools, etc. 

4. Thymol Water. — Made by adding one tablespoon- 
ful Spirits of TJiyniol to half a gallon of water. Spirits 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 4/ 

of thymol is composed of thymol, one ounce ; alco- 
hol, 85 per cent, three ounces. 

May be used for all the disinfectant purposes of 
carbolic acid; it is quite as efficient in this strength, 
and has an agreeable odor. Where thymol is not 
available, chloride of zinc may be used — half an ounce 
of chloride of zinc to one gallon of water. 

Sleeplessness. 

A wise medical writer has said : " Whatever we de- 
tract from the requisite periods of our natural sleep, 
will surely be deducted in the end from the natural 
range of our existence." 

Unfortunately, with many it is not a matter of 
choice. Insomnia is a horrid fiend which pursues 
them. I have very little faith in the various mental 
anodynes — repeating the alphabet, listening to reading, 
counting backwards, counting your breathing, etc. 
They may answer in light cases, but are worthless in 
real insomnia. Dr. Benjamin Franklin's resource was 
to arise, shake up his bed, walk around the room, and 
go to bed again. Dr. Duckworth recommends that 
before lying down one should use the flesh-brush 
freely, and bathe the face with cold water; and repeat 
this if wakefulness comes on during the night. 

I cannot approve of opium, morphia, chloral, or 
spirits, for the purpose of inducing sleep in simple in- 
somnia. They are apt to induce conditions which in 
the end are more distressing than the sleeplessness. 



48 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

But I do not see any reasonable objection to the 
moderate use of bromide of potassium. There is no 
danger of forming the habit of taking it, it leaves no 
permanent effects, and it is not dangerously poison- 
ous even in large quantities. In this opinion I am 
supported by the words of an eminent London physi- 
cian in the British Medical Journal, who says : 

" In summer, on the Continent, night-trains are the 
quickest and the coolest; and I have often enabled 
very weak and nervous women to travel all night with- 
out damage to health, by giving them 25 or 30 grains 
of bromide on starting, and the same dose on going 
to bed the following day, as soon after reaching their 
destination as possible. The first dose generally brings 
on the usual bromide sleep; or, at all events, it calms 
the system, and abates the irksome weariness of body 
and soul that follows long traveling in a cramped posi- 
tion. I have permitted patients to take the bromide 
in this way for two or three successive days, at a 
week's interval, during a two months' tour, warning 
them against taking large doses, and against taking 
the drug day after day during the whole course of 
traveling without further medical advice. This use of 
bromides I commend to the attention of the country 
practitioners who send us patients. If they come to 
us fatigued by a long journey, exhausted by a bad 
night, and by not having been able to breakfast, there 
is an aggravation of some of the symptoms of the case, 
which may mar the accuracy of our prognosis. If the 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 49 

complaint be slight, and the journey of moderate 
length, from 25 to 30 grains of bromide, taken on go- 
ing to bed, will probably give sleep, and insure a quiet 
state of the system on the following morning. Should 
the case be serious, and the journey long, the same 
dose should be given at .starting, and also on arriving. 
No doubt the journey to town will sometimes seriously 
aggravate the state of those who come up for advice ; 
and I know nothing better calculated to prevent this 
than giving the bromide in the way I have described. 
Liquid medicines are objectionable in carpet-bags ; 
but it is easy to have the roughly powdered bromide 
made up into powders of 20 or 30 grains each, one of 
which can be taken in half a glass of water." 

Other soothing remedies, of value and practically 
harmless, are Hoffman s anody7ie and the elixir of val- 
erianate of ammonia. Either can be obtained at any 
well-stocked drug store, with directions. 

Travelers are more liable to sleeplessness in some 
countries than in others. Thus I read the following 
in an article by Dr. David Young, an English practi- 
tioner at Florence. 

" There is one circumstance which frequently causes 
anxiety to newcomers in Italy — the wa?it of sleep. 
Almost every one goes through some experience of 
this kind, and invariably a brief sojourn sees this 
sleeplessness disappear. No drugs need as a rule be 
resorted to, and the traveler, if he is sensible and takes 
matters patiently, will not only find that his sleep re- 



50 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

turns, but that he can do with very much less sleep 
than in England, and that after what he would call a 
sleepless night, he rises more refreshed than he used to 
do at home after a longer and profounder sleep. This 
is an important matter, and ignorance on the point 
has more than once caused needless alarm to trav- 
elers." 

Another plague of some persons is nightmare, which 
especially afflicts them in traveling on account of 
changing beds and surroundings. Those who visit 
the tropics are also peculiarly liable to it. Generally 
speaking, it is connected with some digestive disturb- 
ance. The most efficacious remedy is to take one 
scruple (20 grains) of bicarbonate of soda in some pep- 
permint water, on going to bed. 

Sunstroke and Heatstroke. 

During the summer that I passed in Calcutta, I 
often saw the temperature at 105° in the shade, and 
sunstroke was fearfully destructive of the foreign popu- 
lation. Much of this fatality was owing to the careless 
habits and self-indulgence of the sufferers. Thus I 
noticed the ship captains who drank spirits freely died 
in far greater proportion than the common sailors who 
were restricted in this indulgence. 

Special hats, made of pith about an inch thick, and 
set off from the head on i reed rests, so as to allow a 
free circulation of air over the skull, are much used 
in India, and are valuable protectors. In Australia, 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 5 1 

where the temperature at Christmas is frequently over 
I iO°, a light muslin turban is twisted into a rope, and 
rolled around the hat. A bunch of fresh green leaves 
in the crown of the hat is a popular and sensible de- 
vice in our hot American summers. Dr. Wood says 
that the free use of cool water as a beverage in sum- 
mer is to be recommended as a preventive of sunstroke, 
as it keeps up the action of the skin by promoting 
perspiration. 

When a person exposed to intense heat begins to 
feel giddy and slightly sick, with perhaps a headache, 
or feeling of pressure on the brain, he is in danger, and 
should at once seek the shade, open his clothing to 
the air, and bathe his head and neck assiduously in 
cold or ice water. It is unwise to take spirits, but 
some cold tea or coffee, drawn strong, will be very 
grateful. 

Should the case have gone further, and should he 
have dropped insensible, then the directions are to 
loosen his clothing, place him with head and shoulders 
a little raised, and give him a cold douche, and plenty 
of it, by pouring jug after jug of water from the height 
of three or four feet on the top of his head and down 
his spine; or better, apply an ice-bag, if you can get it, 
to the head. Sponge also his hands, feet and chest 
with cold water. Keep him in a darkened room, and 
where, if possible, there is a nice draft, and let him be 
perfectly quiet and undisturbed. If he seems likely to 
sink altogether, put a blister or a mustard poultice 



$2 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

on the nape of the neck, and administer strong beef- 
tea, or strong brandy and water, slowly, by an enema. 

In St. Louis, they have had good success in using 
warm water instead of cold, a hot mustard bath bring- 
ing about reaction they claim more satisfactorily than 
the cold. 

In India many surgeons have adopted the plan of 
injecting quinine under the skin, which they report 
has succeeded better than any other treatment. 

Poisonous Bites and Stings. 

Spirits of ammonia (spirits of hartshorn) is the stand- 
ard application for the stings of bees, wasps, hornets, 
etc. It should be diluted with twice its bulk of water 
and applied to the part. When it is not at hand, as it 
rarely is, some bicarbonate of soda may be rubbed up 
with water and laid on the part ; or it may be washed 
with a strong solution of it. This is also a first-rate 
application in burns, scalds, and in poisoning hy poiso?i 
ivy, ov poison oak. 

Simpler remedies are to rub the bitten spot with a 
raw onion, or the end of a cigar, or plug well-chewed; 
or to place upon it a poultice of wet clay. 

If the bite is that of a venomous sferpent, suck the 
wound immediately, tie a string tightly around the 
limb between the wound and the body, and bathe the 
injured spot with water containing as much spirits of 
ammonia as the patient can bear 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 53 

I>iar^^hcea and Constipation. 

The change of food and water is very apt to dis- 
turb the action of the bowels in travehng, producing 
either constipation or diarrhoea. Especially is the 
latter apt to occur in hot weather. 

It is well not to medicate much for it. Dr. Francis 
Galton, who is good authority, recommends that 
nothing be taken but broth or rice. Others find the 
" dry diet," that is, eating but little solid food and en- 
tirely abstaining from liquids, to produce rapid relief 
When such simple measures do not answer, a dose of 
castor oil will frequently remove irritating substances 
and be better than beginning with astringents. 

Of medicines, the common paregoric elixir, a tea- 
spoonful two or three times a day, or the clialk mix- 
ture of the pharmacists, are valuable preparations. A 
very excellent combination is the following: 

Diluted sulphuric acid 15 drops. 

Laudanum 10 " 

Essence of ginger 20 " 

Cinnamon or j)eppermint water I ounce. 

To be taken at one dose and repeated every two or 
three hours till relief is obtained. 

The constipation from which many suffer in traveling 
can most generally be relieved by diet. Oat meal, 
corn grits, cracked wheat, figs, dates, fresh ripe fruit, 
and the like, will usually enable one to dispense with 
medicines. A tumbler of water before breakfast is of 
use. 



54 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

If these measures are inadequate, some of the laxa- 
tive mineral waters now so readily attainable may be 
employed, as the Friedrichshall, Saratoga, Geyser or 
Congress, Hunyadi, etc. 

Of drugs, the least objectionable are castor oil and 
rhubarb, as these do not leave a habit of constipation 
after them. One to three grains of rhubarb may be 
taken after each meal, or once daily, as required. 

Catching Cold. 

The remedy for a commencing cold, which long ex- 
perience has proved to be worth all others, is a full 
dose of opium in some form, either 30 or 40 drops of 
laudanum (or, what is better, McMunn's elixir), or 3^ or 
y^ grain of morphia, or one or two grains of pure gum 
opium, just as is convenient. It must be taken early 
in the disease, and no particular care about diet or 
housing one's self need be observed. Repeat if 
required. 

Some persons, however, cannot bear opium in any 
form. It makes them dreadfully sick. For these I 
have used and recommend 20 or 30 drops of the 
muriated tincture of iron taken in plenty of water; or 
a teaspoonful of the ammoniate^ tincture of guaiacum ; 
or 20 or 30 drops of tincture of belladonna. Any of 
these will promptly break up a commencing cold in 
most cases. 

If the cold has had several days' start, and has passed 
into a bronchitis, " settled on the chest," as people say, 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 55 

then the above measures are of no use, and might, in- 
deed, be injurious. For such a condition, especially 
when there is some feverishness, a feeling of soreness 
and tightness across the breast, and a dry irritating 
cough, go to bed in a warmed room, and take the fol- 
lowing powder after you are in bed : 

Dover's powder 10 grains, 

Quinine 5 grains. 

For one dose. 

This, especially if accompanied by a glass of hot 
lemonade, will produce free perspiration. 

There are any number of cough mixtures. I have 
found the following as useful as any. Take 

Syrup of ipecac, 
Syrup of squills, 
Paregoric elixir, equal parts. 
Dose. A teaspoonful three to six times a day as needed. 

A light mustard plaster on the chest is often effi- 
cient in removing soreness, and hastening recovery. 

Sore Throat. 

This very common complaint in our climate is often 
aggravated by exposure in traveling. The popular 
remedy is chlorate of potash. This is obtainable in the 
form of " compressed pellets" at most drug stores, and 
a box of them should form part of the voyager's bag- 
gage. They are often sufficient, and are certainly 
most handy to use. 

But where there is decided inflammation of the 



56 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

throat, with swelling of the tonsils, and pain in swal- 
lowing, I advise prompt recourse to what I consider 
the true specific remedy in this disease, and that is 
guaiacmn. The ammoniated tincture is the most con- 
venient form and I use in preference the following 
gargle. Take 

Ammoniated tincture of guaiacum ^ ounce, 

Liquor of potassa i drachm, 

Cinnamon water 4 ounces. 

For a gargle. Use about two teaspoonfuls at a time, every hour or 
two. 

I have rarely failed to cure an inflammatory sore 
throat with this, inside of twenty ^four hours. 

Persons much subject to sore throat should bathe 
the throat outside with cold water every morning, and 
gargle with a tumbler of cold water containing a tea- 
spoonful of tincture of myrrh. 

Toothache. 

If the traveler prepares himself for his journey as I 
have suggested at the opening of this book, he will 
not be likely to be afflicted with toothache. But as he 
will meet others who are not so wise, he may recom- 
mend them to begin with a dose of salts, aperient 
mineral water, (5r other laxative medicine; as soon 
as this operates, in all probability the pain will be 
gone for a week or two. Meanwhile, apply a small 
mustard poultice outside, just over the place where the 
pain is most violent, and rub the gum and the tooth 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 5/ 

with chloroform and laudanum mixed. If the tooth 
be a hollow one and very painful, then put in the 
cavity a little cotton-wool dipped in chloroform and 
laudanum. It will ease the dreadful pain. A little 
bit of cotton dipped in a solution of shellac, or of gum 
mastic and spirits of wine, makes a good temporary 
filling for very bad teeth. Creasote is the safest do- 
mestic remedy to employ, if the pain be very bad; it 
is used by putting a little bit of cotton-wool dipped in 
it into the hollow of the tooth. Do not try to put it 
in for yourself, or you will scarify your tongue and 
gums. 

Mr. Turner, an English writer, says in a recent 
book: "The following remedy for toothache was 
given me by a dentist of very great reputation: ' First 
wash the mouth well with warm water ; then use the 
following tincture : Tannin, ten grains ; gum mastic, 
one-half drachm ; ten drops of carbolic acid ; dissolve 
in half an ounce of sulphuric ether.' Paint the de- 
cayed hollow of the aching tooth over with this, twice, 
or even thrice, using a camel's-hair brush. I have 
never found it to fail ; and I have used it myself 
some hundreds of times, both at sea and on shore. 
The remedy will last good a month or more. Then 
apply it again if the pain returns : it does not hurt the 
other teeth. Take care and keep the tincture in a vial 
with a glass stopper — not a cork, as the gum mastic 
makes the cork stick fast in the neck of the vial, and 
break." 
3* 



58 HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

Iliccotigh. 

This is to some people a distressing annoyance, and 
appears sometimes to be produced by the jolting mo- 
tion of the cars. With some it may be checked by 
pressing the point of the finger firmly on the center 
of the upper lip. But the most reliable remedy is 
pounded ice or ice cream. Few hiccoughs from any 
cause will resist a plate of the latter agreeable com- 
pound. 

Earache. 

For simple cases, the result of exposure to cold, a 
hot mush poultice will usually relieve the pain. The 
domestic remedy of a roast onion, wrapped in flannel, 
and applied to the ear as hot as it can be borne, is even 
better. The habit of stuffing the ears with cotton is a 
bad one, and should be avoided. (See also p. 6i.) 

Nose Bleed. 

This unpleasant accident often occurs to children on 
journeys. Ice to the back of the neck, and stretching 
the hands and arms in a straight line above the body 
will generally check it. Snuffing up tannic acid is also 
efficacious, and when persons are subject to such at- 
tacks it is well to have this drug along. 

Vertigo or Dizziness. 

Many persons are constitutionally subject to this 
on ascending a height or on looking downward. To 
a traveler it is an exceedingly inconvenient weakness, 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 59 

and those who are Hable to it should not attempt to 
make important mountain cHmbs, or to expose them- 
selves to crossing narrow bridges, etc. There is no 
certain prevention of it. Some have succeeded in 
overcoming the tendency by accustoming themselves 
first to moderate heights, and then to greater ones. 
The affection is purely mental. If the mind can be 
steadily occupied with other thoughts, and the gaze 
directed upwards or horizontally, the dizziness will 
not appear. 

This variety of vertigo is by no means the same as 
that from which many are habitual sufferers. This 
latter is generally of dyspepsia, and is often brought 
on by the use of tobacco or coffee to excess. By re- 
ducing or omitting the use of them, it will frequently 
disappear. 

Suggestions about Medicines. 

A traveler does not want to carry a trunk-full of 
drugs ; but there are a few which it is very wise foi 
him to have with him for immediate use, and when re- 
mote from drug stores. Their choice depends a good 
deal on where he is going and the nature of his busi- 
ness. Leaving these special considerations to him, I 
would name the following as of service on all journeys 
of length : 

Bromide of potash. This has been already men- 
tioned (page 48). As I have said, it is most conveni- 
ently carried in powders of thirty grains each. One, 



6o HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 

two or three of these may be taken at intervals. It 
soothes the system, relieves nervous headache, lessens 
the irritability of the stomach, overcomes sleeplessness, 
and has no permanent bad effects. 

Opium or morphia. These extremely valuable pre- 
parations have some serious objections. The habit of 
taking opium, either in the form of laudanum or mor- 
phia, or of smoking the gum, Chinese fashion, is a 
most deplorable one. But as a medicinal agent, opium 
occupies the first rank. Taken early, it checks the 
ill-effects of exposure to cold, relieves pain, induces 
sleep, and soothes nervous irritability. The average 
dose of gum opium for an adult (children do not bear 
it well), is one grain ; this equals a quarter of a grain 
of morphia, or twenty drops of laudanum. One must 
remember, in using it, that it is a poison, and that re- 
peating such doses may be dangerous. 

Paregoric, a popular and excellent remedy for loose- 
ness of the bowels, contains one grain of opium to the 
ounce, combined with useful stomachics. 

Mustard is the most convenient and effective coun- 
ter-irritant. The mustard paper or prepared mustard 
plasters to be found in any first-class drug store are 
cleanly, and occupy little room, while they are an ex- 
cellent remedy for pains and aches. 

Qtdnine is indispensable to the traveler in malarious 
regions; as a preventive of malaria I have already 
spoken of three or five grains once a day ; but if a chill 
has been experienced, that much should be taken three 



HEALTH HINTS FOR TRAVELERS. 6 1 

or four times a day. Pills can be bought, containing 
three grains each, which are handy to carry. 

Chloroform is especially useful for the immediate 
relief of pain. A few drops of it on a handkerchief, 
and occasionally inhaled, will often relieve a headache 
and dispel the nausea of sea-sickness or the motion of 
a car. The following mixture is most excellent for 
earache : 

Chloroform I drachm, 

Ohve oil I ounce. 

Mix and shake well together. Then pour 20 or 30 drops into the 
ear, and close it up with a piece of raw cotton. 

Extract of beef, now to be had of excellent quality, 
put up in tins, is well worth having with one when in- 
valids are in the party. A gill, nicely warmed, will 
act as a delightful stimulant, and in fatiguing journeys, 
or when meals are not to be had regularly, it is an ex- 
cellent substitute for substantial food. 

These are the medicinal preparations which the 
traveler will find most useful, and he will generally 
meet with some emergency in which one or other of 
them will be welcome. 



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